US: A military investigation into the deaths of 24 Iraqis last November will find that they were killed by US marines in unprovoked, systematic shootings, according to reports in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and on ABC News.
The military initially claimed that the Iraqi civilians, who included women and children, were killed in Haditha, in Anbar province, by a roadside bomb. Military officials later claimed the victims were caught in crossfire between marines and Sunni insurgents.
The investigation is expected to find that both accounts were untrue and that a small group of marines, angry at the killing of a member of their unit by a roadside bomb, shot the civilians over a five-hour period.
Five of the victims appear to have been unarmed men travelling in a taxi who were either pulled out of the vehicle or stepped out of it at a marine checkpoint and shot dead.
Reports said the marines later entered a number of houses, leaving six unarmed civilians, including a three-year-old boy, dead in one house, and eight dead in another. Four Iraqis were killed in a third house, including one who may have been armed, and one man was shot as he tried to run away.
The commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen Michael Hagee, flew to Iraq on Thursday to give a series of speeches to his forces emphasising compliance with international laws of armed conflict, the Geneva Conventions and the American military's rules of engagement. "Recent serious allegations concerning actions of marines in combat have caused me concern," Gen Hagee said as he left Washington.
Republican congressman John Kline, a retired marine colonel, said the allegations suggested the killings were not accidental. "This was direct fire by marines at civilians. This was not an immediate response to an attack. This would be an atrocity."
John Sifton of Human Rights Watch warned that the killings could represent a greater atrocity than any yet seen since the US invasion of Iraq.
"If the accounts as they have been alleged are true, the Haditha incident is likely the most serious war crime that has been reported in Iraq since the beginning of the war. Here we have two dozen civilians being killed - apparently intentionally. This isn't a grey area. This is a massacre," he told the New York Times.
The allegations were first outlined in a report in Time magazine in March but the military investigation appears to have uncovered new details and a number of marines could face charges of murder.
A separate investigation has been launched to establish if the US military in Iraq attempted to cover up the incident.
Gen Hagee's visit to Iraq is a sign of disquiet in Washington over the incident amid fears that it could trigger a wave of anger similar to that which followed revelations of abuse in Abu Ghraib prison.